Ep 13 A Brewed Awakening - Market Mayhem to Riverside Revelry at The Old Kings Head, Wheatsheaf, Southwark Tavern, Anchor Bankside in Southwark Pt 2

Now that we have full explored The George Inn in the previous Southwark episode, let's look at some other great historic pubs in the area: The Old Kings Head, The Wheatsheaf, Southwark Tavern and The Anchor Bankside.

Google map with pubs covered in previous episodes pinned, courtesy of Andy Meddick:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/4/edit?mid=12c-WKa3XiT1qTLydK8psZocUR7Y_Wes&usp=sharing

Or TinyURL: https://tinyurl.com/bduca5dv

The following resources are referenced or quoted frequently in these episodes:

• Ted Bruning  -- Historic Pubs of London (ISBN 978-0658005022) and London By Pub (ISBN 978-0658005022)
• Wikipedia
• https://londonspubswherehistoryreallyhappened.wordpress.com/  by Ann Laffeaty

Additionally, the  following resource(s) were used in researching this episode:

https://www1.camra.org.uk/pubs/old-kings-head-london-158363

https://reviewsummary.co.uk/place/47699-anchor-bankside

https://www.wheatsheafborough.co.uk/

https://www.thesouthwarktavern.co.uk/#/

https://sheaf.london/

https://boroughmarket.org.uk/

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/london-bridge-attack/man-fleeing-london-terror-attack-beer-hailed-unlikely-hero-n768111

Intro music:

Vivaldi - Spring Allegro by John Harrison with the Wichita State University Chamber

Photo:  Ewan Munro

Website: https://historiclondonpubcast.com/

E-mail: hosteric@historiclondonpubcast.com

Transcript

Welcome to this episode of The Historic London Pubcast. I'm Eric Blair, and I'd like to take you on a journey through the rich history of London's iconic pubs. My goal is to share with you my passion for the great old pubs of London. I want to give you some facts to help you appreciate the history of these hallowed establishments mixed in with some fun stories that make it all go down as smooth as a well poured pint.

Our previous episode covered the vast history of The George Inn, which was, in its day, a top ten coaching inn, but now the Jewel of Southwark by the simple fact that it has survived more or less intact. This episode will cover other pubs and historical features in the area just south of London Bridge, variously termed Southwark, Borough, or Bermondsey.

To be proper, I believe Borough and Bermondsey are neighborhoods in the larger area called Southwark. We will talk about these pubs, The Old Kings Head, The Southwark Tavern, The Wheatsheaf, and The Anchor, and mention a couple of others in passing. If you haven't listened to the previous episode on The George, you might want to do so before diving in here to give you a greater appreciation of the history of the neighborhood and how it was driven by the transportation industry.

In the previous episode, I mentioned John Stones 1598 publication, “Survey of London” that listed what we might term the Big Eight of Coaching Inns of that time. Included were The George, The White Hart, and The King's Head. Old maps show these ends in that order, going north on Borough High Street, starting from The George. Immediately south of The George was another big eight member, The Talbot, or known as The Tabard in olden times.

All four of these inns were burned to the ground in the Great Fire of Southwark in 1676 and rebuilt when transportation shifted from coaching to the railroads. All these ends, except The George, were torn down in the last two decades of the 1800s, and The George saw it close, surviving only with about 25% of its original splendor. 

A surviving tribute to The Kings Head in is a pub called The Old Kings Head.The original inn was named The Pope's Head and is mentioned as far back as 1534, but with The Reformation the name was changed to The King's Head, a good political move, since the King we are talking about is Henry the Eighth. Even in The King's Head’s last year, before it was pulled down, Henry the Eighth was, ‘Dah man.’ John Timms in his Curiosities of London, published around 1867, remarks that he recalls the inn sign being a well painted half-length of Henry the Eighth.

Today's pub carries the address of 45 Borough High Street, but you actually have to turn it into a small street called King's Head Yard. There is a sign above the King's Head Yard entrance visible from Borough High Street of what I presume is Henry in his younger years, with the lower label saying, “Established 1881.” The inn was demolished in 1876, so the 1881 date of the rise of the pub is not inconsistent and note it is now called The Old Kings Head.

This area was heavily damaged during World War Two by the Blitz, and one source offers that all buildings in the yard, including the pub, only, date back to 1945. This is a nice pub. Don't let its newbie roots only going back to the ‘40s put you off.

CAMRA has a nice, succinct description,

“The stained-glass windows hint at a bygone era, and the large murals adorning the walls tell the story of a pub and an area that has a rich history. The layout inside is simple an L-shaped bar and a large bare boarded floor space with four hand pumps serving the eclectic mix of tourist office workers and market goers.”

Don't pass this one up. You'll be glad you popped in. Alas, there's no tribute pub to The White Hart Inn or The Talbot Inn, so, we'll move across Borough High Street to the Borough Market area.  

With a nice brewski under our belt from The Old Kings Head,let's check out the market before we pop into another pub. Borough Market's roots go back to at least around the year 1000. The area was termed, “A great market town,” by an Icelandic historian when describing an incident that occurred in 1014, with construction of a more permanent stone London Bridge in the 12th century. A market on its south side was a natural, but market growth and traffic congestion were at odds.

Around 1755, Parliament abolished the Southwark Market and allowed locals to set up a new market on land acquired from the Bishop of Rochester, appropriately referred to as Rochester Yard. This 4.5-acre space is where Borough Market exists today. It was basically a wholesale market until the 1990s and then transformed to the popular retail market of today. There are lots of specialty goods available there from small, personalized booths. The market is open every day except Mondays, but my experience is that Saturday is the day to go. It is hopping then. 

Okay, let's get back to the pubs. On the south side of Borough Market is a pub that seems scrunched down below an elevated railway trestle. This is The Wheatsheaf at Six Stoney Street. Now be careful. There's also a Wheatsheaf in Fitzrovia near Tottenham Court Road. Borough Market’s Wheatsheaf is in a building that dates to 1840, although a pub was thought to be on this site since the 1700s.

In 2009 the pub was closed so the third floor could be removed, and the Thameslink viaduct could take its place. It is now a two-storey pub with an elevated train bridge for a hat. With the closure, a breakaway group established a pub in the cellar of a Hop Exchange around the corner and named it just The Sheaf.

We'll get to that in a bit. The Wheatsheaf reopened in 2014 with a bit of a snazzy redo that eclectically mixed the new and the old. The pub itself maintains its Victorian feel, but the overhaul by owner Young and Company Brewery has new features which include a camper van kitchen outside on a new heated terrace, the special vintage Wheatsheaf bicycle, a screen showing a live feed from London Bridge station, and the mix and match food ordering system.

Keeping with the foodie nature of the current market, there are interesting items on the menu like Hay Box Ham, Sticky English Whisky Ribs, and Cider Spit Chicken. Young's pulled off a nice mix of the old and not so old. That makes checking out this pub a must on the list when you visit the area. 

I want to briefly mention a sad event that occurred in the area on June 3rd, 2017. Three terrorists in a Renault van crossed London Bridge going north to south around 10 p.m... While on the bridge, the van intentionally swerved into pedestrians, killing two people. The van exited the bridge and crashed in the first block south in the front of the Borough Bistro and a pub called The Barrel Boy and Banker. The terrorists spilled out of the van and began stabbing people. There are stories of people fighting back, and shops sheltering people. Every day heroes emerged. The police responded incredibly quickly, and the last of the terrorist were neutralized in front of The Wheatsheaf about eight minutes after the whole thing began. Eight great people were killed by these guys. 

Like I said, a sad event, but let me end with a bit of humor. With virtually everyone having a cell phone that takes photos and videos, there were lots of pics posted of people fleeing and running for shelter. Let me read from an NBC article that is linked in the notes,

“An image of a man fleeing the London terrorist attack Saturday night with a beer in his hand has gone viral, with some hailing the man as an unlikely hero and a symbol of the city in the wake of the deadly assault.”

The video, showing Londoners fleeing the scene of the deadly car and knife attack on London Bridge Saturday night captured one man walking slowly in a crowd, with a nearly full pint in tow. Social media was quick to pick up the image, with some praising the man for, “Epitomizing the spirit of the city.” Comments on Twitter included, “People fleeing London Bridge attack, but the bloke on the right isn't spilling a drop. God bless the Brits,” and “People flee a terrorist attack like Londoners.” Others joked that the man was protecting his beer because of how pricey the drinks are in London. A guy with the great handle of, ‘Dastardly Danny’ quipped, “And at London prices, you wouldn't want to spill it either.”

Okay, let's move up Stoney Street, back to Borough High Street, and right on the corner we find the great The Southwark Tavern. The building goes back to the mid-1800s, one source said 1864, another 1857. Okay, we get the idea. When you first walk into the pub, you see a nice modern facility with appropriate wooden architecture to give a heritage feel nice, but that's not why we're talking about this pub today. Stairs leading down to the cellar reveal a row of prison cells, said once to be used as a Debtor’s Prison.

Move along now. Pick your digs. Don't worry. As the pub's website says,

“These old cells are now transformed into snug booths.”

Have a seat and let the ambiance sit in. It's quite an experience. The drinks menu prides itself on a rotating craft beer selection, but don't work your tab now. This place knows what to do with people who don't pay up for some time.

Speaking of prisons, Southwark’s past has something to offer there. Actually, two things. First, there's the Marshall C Prison. Wikipedia gives us a nice summary,

“The Marshall C was a notorious prison in Southwark, active from 1373 to 1842. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition. It became known in particular for its incarceration of the poorest of London's debtors. Over half of England's prisoners in the 18th century were in jail because of debt. Run privately for profit, as were all the English prisons, until the 19th century. The Marshall C looked like an Oxbridge college and functioned as an extortion racket. 

Debtors in the 18th century, who could afford the prison fees, had access to a bar, shop and restaurant and retained the crucial privilege of being allowed out during the day, which gave them a chance to earn money for their creditors. Everyone else was crammed into one of the nine small rooms with dozens of others, possibly for years for the most modest of debts, which increased as unpaid prison fees accumulated. The poorest faced starvation. A parliamentary committee reported in 1729 that 300 inmates had starved to death within a three-month period, and that 8 to 10 were dying every 24 hours in the warmer weather.

The prison became known around the world in the 19th century through the writing of novelist Charles Dickens, whose father was sent there in 1824, when Dickens was 12, for a debt to a baker. Forced as a result to leave school to work in a factory, Dickens based several of his characters on his experience, most notably Amy, a main character in Little Dorrit whose father is in Marshal  C for debts so complex that no one can fathom how to get him out. The sight of the prison is about a five-minute walk south of The George. A local library now stands on the site. All that is left of Marshall Sea is a long brick wall that marked its southern boundaries.”

Good riddance! The other prison is The Clink. Not slang. That's its real name. Again, turning to Wiki,

“The Clink was a prison in Southwark which operated from the 12th century until 1780. The prison served the Liberty of the Clink, a local manor area owned by the Bishop of Winchester, rather than by the reigning Monarch. As the Liberty owner, the Bishop kept all revenues from the Clink Liberty and could put people in prison for failing to make their payments. As a Bishop, he could also imprison heretics. The Clink Prison was situated next to the Bishop of London's residence at Winchester Palace. The Clink was probably the oldest men's prison and probably the oldest women's prison in England. Originally, most of the prisoners had been those who had broken the rules of the Liberty, but by the 16th century it had largely become a prison for actual or supposed heretics who held contrary views to the bishops. In later years it was mainly a Debtor's Prison.”

Obviously, it didn't have much of a positive public image. It was burned down by rioters, once, in 1450, and subsequently rebuilt, and again, in 1780 for the final time. Today there is a Clink Prison Museum located on Clink Street near the original site, about a seven-minute walk west of The George.

The Clink Prison Museum tries to recreate the conditions of the original prison. I enjoyed my visit there several years ago, and I remember learning that with the prison basically at the South Bank of the Thames, there were high tides that would leave the prisoners standing in water in their cells until it went down. Not a fun place. 

Our last stop down Borough High Street is The Hop Exchange with the actual address of 24 Southwark Street, right where that street splits off from Borough High Street.

If you overlook the street split, The Exchange is basically on the other side of the road from The George.Built in 1867 here in Borough, the center of London's brewing industry, and thus the hop trading from the 17th century until the mid-20th century. Its purpose was to provide hop growers, merchants and dealers with a single market center.

It was constructed with a glass roof to allow potential buyers to view the hops in natural light. Prior to building The Hop Exchange, hop merchants and factors were an important part of The George Inn’s business in the mid-1800s, as it struggled to survive the coming of the railroads that had ended the coaching trade, the source of The George’s previous customer base. 

Prior to the construction of The Hop Exchange, hop commodity traders could be seen running their business from the yard of The George, and skylights were installed in the roof of The George and its attics to serve as showrooms with natural light for the hop batches being sold. Even after The Hop Exchange was built, some hop businessmen continued to prefer The George, but the efficiency of The Exchange proved too enticing, and in a few years hop trading was finished at the George. A fire in 1920 caused extensive damage to this magnificent structure. Reconstruction repurposed the building, with two upper floors being removed and the rest restored as offices. Peek inside. It's quite the place, but also look down, there’s a subterranean entrance from the street where you can enter The Sheafpub. Remember, this pub was established when The Wheatsheaf on Stoney Street was closed for four years due to the Thames Link Viaduct Project. Its name is shortened, but it still provides tribute to what they call the original pub, that is The Wheatsheaf, before the Thames Link haircut.

Their website states the original pub was immortalized in John Ross's photographic collection and book, The Wheat Chief R.I.P...  When the pub moved to its new site, John's photos of all the regulars were mounted on the walls with great pride. See who you can spot. 

Our last stop is a well-known pub, The Anchor Bankside. This pub's roots go back to a famous brewery. Let's start there. Wiki tells us,

“The Anchor Brewery was a brewery in Park Street, Southwark. It was established in 1616 and by the early 19th century was the largest brewery in the world. From 1781 it was operated by Barclay, Perkins and Company, who in 1955 merged with the Courage Brewery. The Park Street Brewery was demolished in 1981. The Anchor pub of today started life as that brewery's taproom.”

The terrific Pub Blogger Ann Lafferty does the best job in giving us a thumbnail history of The Anchor,

“The current Anchor pub was built between 1770 and 1775, on the site of an earlier in name, The Castle On The Hoop, which dates back to a cool 800 years. The area was known in the past as Deadman's Place because it was near a plague pit. Today's bustling Bankside would have been unrecognizable then. The narrow Medieval street was lined with wharves and warehouses, while the air was filled with the stench of fish and unsettling sounds of bear baiting arenas, and brothels. Inhabitants of the latter were known locally as Winchester Geese, because the Bishop of Winchester owned the brothels and claimed the tax revenue. The Anchor can claim a variety of patrons from several different professions. In the Elizabethan era, it was located in the heart of the Theatreland, and actors from the nearby Globe Theater, and perhaps even the Bard himself were frequent goers. The Anchor was also a haunt of river pirates and smugglers during its colorful history. When repairs were carried out in the 19th century, a wealth of ingenious hiding places for stolen goods and contraband were discovered. Famous literary patrons include Oliver Goldsmith and Doctor Samuel Johnson.” 

It is often claimed that Samuel Pepys observed the Great Fire of London from The Anchor.Look. I love pub legends, but I also love facts. All Mr. Pepys wrote was that he pulled his boat onto the South Bank and he and his party retreated to, 

“A little ale house on Bankside, and there we watched the fire grow.”

Wiki tells us,

“The Anchor is a sole survivor of the Riverside Inns that existed here in Shakespeare's time, when this district was at the heart of the Theatreland and The Thames was London's principal highway. It was frequented by many actors from neighboring playhouses, including The Globe, The Swan, and The Rose. It is where Diarist Samuel Pepys observed the Great Fire of London in 1666.”

It seems to me that the first and last sentence or internally contradictory. If you read what Pepys actually wrote. There were lots of riverside inns, and Pepys did not mention a specific inn. Okay, off my soapbox. Relax, Eric Blair. Take a sip from your pint and look out across the river today. Just like Pepys did nearly 400 years ago. It's good enough to know that it's, at or near where you are sitting. 

The pub appears to have been rebuilt at least twice after major fires, but different sources report different dates. So at least we can say that the pub has some history of rising from the ashes, and there was remodeling. The latest was done in 2008, which was believed to be the most costly pub remodeling up to that time, 2.6 million pounds. The pub today is fairly large and includes a nice outdoor deck for river watching. Reviewer's comments run the gamut, 

“The place has a great atmosphere. It has a terrace on the side of the river,”

and, 

“A beautiful pub right by the Thames and near Borough Market,” 

and, 

“The whole place looked and felt grimy.”

Perhaps the difference in various beholders’ eyes is to love or loathe, of a little historical down and dirtiness. I fall on the side of liking it, and I would think that my dear Listeners who love pub history would like it as well. Besides, no one can fault the location that is so special that you can see Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames drinking there on the outside deck in Mission Impossible Two.

Okay, that wraps up our second episode on Southwark. Various podcast directories have like, subscribe, thumbs up, and even fan mail. Please consider any or all of that. Or if you want to send me an email, my address is hosteric@historiclondonpuncast.com. I'm looking forward to sharing my next episode with you.

Till then, Cheers!